Since the advent of the video cassette recorder (VCR), viewers of transmitted video and audio programming have been able to privately record their favorite programs. As a result, such technology has allowed the viewer to “time-shift” television programs of interest to a subsequent, more convenient time. More recently, digital video recorder (DVR) units, often provided in satellite and cable broadcast programming receivers, or “set-top boxes,” have supplied the viewer a more convenient means of audio/video time-shifting by allowing a larger number of programs to be recorded in a more automated fashion without the use of removable storage media.
Typically, the viewer must view the previously-recorded programs or program segments on a display device, such as a television or monitor, connected to the set-top box or standalone DVR containing the recorded content. As a result, the viewer is normally limited in the number of locations at which the viewer may view the recorded content. To address this issue, audio and video content may be transferred or uploaded to a content server, such as an Internet web server or similar communication device, by way of a communications network or connection between a device containing the recorded programming and the content server. A user may then view the uploaded content using any computer or other communication device coupled to the web server over the communications network by downloading or streaming the content from the server to the device. Transfer of the video and audio data both to and from the web server in such a fashion may consume a significant amount of bandwidth provided by the communications network being employed, depending on the image resolution and length of each segment being transferred.